(2021). Make China Great Again: The Blood-Based View of Chineseness in Hong Kong. Educational Philosophy and Theory, v53 n9 p907-919. Hong Kong, as a former colony of the United Kingdom, is characterised as a hybrid of East and West. Its colonial history is commonly seen as establishing many positive aspects of Hong Kong and shaping good qualities of its people, such as the value of rule of law, free speech, freedom of the press, and fluency in English. Yet the majority of people in both Hong Kong and China share Han Chinese ethnicity, which has been used by both the Chinese and Hong Kong governments to promote a blood-based idea of Chinese identity for decades. This paper explores "Chineseness", or Chinese identity, as promoted by the Hong Kong government. It first explores the concept of Chineseness, elaborating on a blood-based view that connects with ethnic-nationalism, in contrast with a pluralistic view of identity in the Hong Kong context. The paper then examines how Hong Kong government officials promote Chineseness through major outlets, on government websites and in speeches captured in media…. [Direct]
(2021). Precarious Work and Funding Make Academic Freedom Precarious. Australian Universities' Review, v63 n1 p26-30. The attacks on university staff and students engaged in teaching, researching and speaking out against the state, military and religious powers, and for fairness, democracy, and equality, are increasing. As has been noted by many academics and commentators, liberal democratic principles of free speech and movement, alongside academic freedom, are very much a battle ground in the 21st century. Free movement of academics and students around the world is critical to freedom, of thought and action. Academic freedom is a responsibility, not a right. It is to speak truth to power; to honour the liberal university goal of working for the public good; and for the publicly funded university, in particular, to act in the public interest. What then is stopping Australian universities from speaking truth to power today? Why are Australian universities so quiet in comparison with students, staff and even university leaderships in many other places? This article discusses three big and intertwined… [PDF]
(2023). How Can Universities Prepare for the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act?. Universities UK This briefing is intended to support Universities UK (UUK) members ahead of the implementation of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act. The government introduced the Act with the intention of strengthening freedom of speech and academic freedom in higher education in England, and received Royal Assent in May 2023. The legislation will have a wide-ranging impact on universities in England, as well as the role and remit of the Office for Students (OfS), including: (1) a new strengthened duty to promote freedom of speech and academic freedom; (2) new OfS condition(s) of registration; (3) requirements for codes of practice; (4) regulation of students' unions on freedom of speech; (5) the introduction of a statutory tort; (6) establishment of a free speech complaints scheme; (7) creation of the role of the Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom; (8) monitoring of overseas funding in relation to risks to academic freedom and freedom of speech; and (9) prohibition of… [PDF]
(2024). Diversity's Promise for Higher Education: Making It Work. Fourth Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press Building sustainable diversity in higher education isn't just the right thing to do–it is an imperative for institutional excellence and for a pluralistic society that works. In "Diversity's Promise for Higher Education," author Daryl G. Smith proposes clear and realistic practices to help institutions identify diversity as a strategic imperative for excellence and pursue diversity efforts that are inclusive of the varied issues on campuses–without losing focus on the critical unfinished business of the past. To become more relevant while remaining true to their core missions, colleges and universities must continue to frame diversity as central to institutional excellence. Smith suggests that seeing diversity as an imperative for an institution's mission, and not just as a value, is the necessary lever for real institutional change. Furthermore, achieving excellence in a diverse society requires increasing institutional capacity for diversity–working to understand how… [Direct]
(2024). Social Media and the First Amendment: Are Teachers Really Free to Speak?. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of Louisiana at Monroe. Social media is ubiquitous in today's society, and classrooms are not exempt. When social media interrupts education, whether by preventing engagement with the lesson or by creating inappropriate interactions or relationships, policies must be put in place to keep learning the priority. With that caution, though, school districts must be sure to be respectful of the First Amendment rights of teachers, not infringing on their personal freedoms to the point of disenfranchisement. This dissertation examines the 29 existing social media policies in Louisiana's parish public school districts in comparison to the Constitution and landmarks court cases, an expert-reviewed rubric, and the National Education Association's Social Media in Education guidance document to determine if they meet the standard of protecting both students and the rights of teachers. Through doctrinal research and lean coding, the researcher distilled themes found to be most common among the existing policies and… [Direct]
(2021). Building a Culture of Free Expression in the Online Classroom: A Guide from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. Perspectives on Higher Education. American Council of Trustees and Alumni Drawing on empirical data from student surveys, as well as insights from faculty and higher education leaders across the country, ACTA's report details how the rapid shift to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the ongoing free speech crisis on college campuses, further suppressed viewpoint diversity, and encouraged more self-censorship among students. The report also delineates steps that faculty, administrators, and governing boards can take to help promote a culture of free expression in the online classroom. "The lifeblood of the liberal arts is debate, dialectic, inquiry, and challenge," said Dr. Michael Poliakoff, president of ACTA. "In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic that has threatened the strength and even the survival of so many institutions, online education moved to the fore. We have seen that it can bless us with access to a vibrant exchange of ideas, but it also has the potential to eliminate the opportunity for growth of character… [PDF]
(2020). Intrastate and Interstate Influences on the Introduction and Enactment of Campus Carry Legislation, 2004-2016. Educational Researcher, v49 n2 p114-124 Mar. Using a data set that captures the introduction and enactment of "campus carry" bills between 2004 and 2016, we examined how the state policy adoption and diffusion framework explains the policy process related to allowing concealed weapons on the campuses of U.S. colleges and universities. Panel data logistic regression analyses revealed that active shooter incidents, the percentage of Republicans in state government, citizen political ideology, and policy diffusion influence the introduction of campus carry legislation. In addition, survival analysis showed that conservative citizen political ideology and anti-gun-control interests are positively related to the enactment of campus carry laws. To our knowledge, this is the first empirical analysis of the policy process related to campus carry legislation. It expands the empirical scope of higher education policy research by considering a social problem that, like free speech and transgender "bathroom bills," is… [Direct]
(2020). Active Words in Dangerous Times: Beyond Liberal Models of Dialogue in Politics and Pedagogy. Curriculum Inquiry, v50 n1 p78-97. Dialogue is a category that is central to politics, media, and education, and yet in all of these domains it can be confusing and ambiguous. Starting from a critical framework built on the work of educational philosopher Paulo Freire, we undertake an inquiry into the meaning of dialogical intersubjectivity and its political determinations, with a particular focus on liberal models. We situate this discussion in the context of the rise of radical Right populisms, which have exposed the strength of racial resentment and white supremacy in contemporary politics, and raised questions about the meaning of social cohesion and the relationship between speech and violence. In this context, we show how liberal calls for unity and reflexive defenses of free speech obscure the exclusions and antagonisms that traverse society, while also flattening the meaning of dialogue and betraying its emancipatory vocation. Finally, we suggest that educators should understand their work as continuous with a… [Direct]
(2021). Foucauldian Parrhesia and Avicennean Contingency in Muslim Education: The Curriculum of Metaphysics. Educational Philosophy and Theory, v53 n12 p1246-1256. This study examines the Foucauldian notion of "parrhesia" within the context of curricular practices through a renewal of scholarly interest in Islamic metaphysics as represented by the Avicennean modalities of reality: necessity, contingency, and possibility. It explores the role of contingency in advancing educational practices that generate inclusive dissemination of knowledge that captures the language of Tajdeed (legitimate renovation) in Islamic education. This article argues that contingency, as a causality-oriented modality, determines whether meaning is relative or absolute, while necessity, as an acknowledgment of universal truth, slips into demagoguery that can be used to canonize strict textualism and absolutism. Contingency is defined here as a practice that stimulates synthesis and dialogical understanding of knowledge. Accordingly, the study asks the following questions: How does infusing the Avicennean concept of contingency into curriculum practices offer… [Direct]
(2018). Do You Know Your Campus Speech Code?. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, v50 n2 p63-66. M. Alison Kibler is Professor of American Studies and Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies at Franklin and Marshall College. She has taught "Rights and Representations", a seminar for first year students, focusing on the tension between free speech and equality in American law and politics, for fifteen years. In this article, Kibler writes that she had recently wondered about her class becoming stale, but recent civil rights protests on college campuses across the country revealed that the seminar was becoming more relevent than ever before. This article describes a new class assignment Kibler designed for the class to make the First Ammendment principles more immediately relevant to students' experience on campus. Ultimately, the assignment framed discussions about two campus speech controversies and prompted a revision of the "College Life Manual."… [Direct]
(2018). Power to Influence Leadership Perceptions and Innovatively Challenge the Status Quo: President Donald Trump and Social Activism. Journal of Leadership Education, v17 n2 p92-113 Apr. Daring to challenge the status quo impacts innovation. Yet, successful outcomes depend on individual risk-taking and choice to influence others to support new ideas. This "Challenging the Status Quo" exercise illustrates how leaders use power and influencing tactics to challenge norms by analyzing Donald Trump's journey as the 45th U.S. President to defy experts and successfully influence followers to support his non-traditional candidacy: businessman lacking political experience becoming leader of the free world. Through integrating videoclips and polls, instructors make power visible, relevant, and thought-provoking as students apply power theory and influencing tactics perspectives to analyze (a) how leaders impact followers' perceptions, (b) students mutual-influencing strategies, (c) power's relationship with social identity and privilege, and (d) social impact on innovation via activism and free speech…. [PDF]
(2013). Religious Music and Free Speech: Philosophical Issues in Nurre v. Whitehead. Philosophy of Music Education Review, v21 n2 p178-196 Fall. On September 9, 2009, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that officials from Everett School District #2 in Mill Creek, Washington did not violate student Kathryn Nurre's constitutional rights to free speech by denying the Jackson High School Wind Ensemble the opportunity to perform an instrumental version of Franz Biebl's "Ave Maria" at the district's graduation ceremony. This philosophical study addresses implications of this legal case regarding religious music and free speech in public school music programs within the United States. Two questions are investigated: the issue of defining religious music and its relationship to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and the issue of whether students have a right to musical expression protected by the First Amendment's Free Speech Clause. Conclusions suggest that some music in the Western classical tradition cannot be easily categorized as exclusively sacred or secular, and that… [Direct]
(2013). Religious Music and Free Speech: Philosophical Issues in Nurre v. Whitehead. Philosophy of Music Education Review, v21 n2 p178-196 Fall. On September 9, 2009, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that officials from Everett School District #2 in Mill Creek, Washington did not violate student Kathryn Nurre's constitutional rights to free speech by denying the Jackson High School Wind Ensemble the opportunity to perform an instrumental version of Franz Biebl's Ave Maria at the district's graduation ceremony. This philosophical study addresses implications of this legal case regarding religious music and free speech in public school music programs within the United States. Two questions are investigated: the issue of defining religious music and its relationship to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and the issue of whether students have a right to musical expression protected by the First Amendment's Free Speech Clause. Conclusions suggest that some music in the Western classical tradition cannot be easily categorized as exclusively sacred or secular, and that performances… [Direct]
(2024). Reported Speech in Individuals with Down Syndrome: First Evidence. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, v37 n1 e13163. Introduction: Narratives are enriched by taking the perspective of the protagonists, which can be expressed using reported speech. Nevertheless, the use of reported speech is unaddressed internationally among individuals with Down syndrome. Method: Narratives of 28 children and adolescents with Down syndrome were collected using a non-verbal picture book. Occurrence and forms of reported speech were analysed and compared to typically-developing children (TD; n = 33). Results: Participants from both populations use reported speech in their narratives with a comparable proportion. Nevertheless, differences appear concerning forms of direct speech with persons with Down syndrome using more free direct speech than TD-children. Discussion: The results suggest that children and adolescents are able to implement the use of reported speech regardless of their syntactic impairments. Concerning the occurring forms of direct speech, the results might point to cognitive impairments that manifest… [Direct]
(2022). When Are Universities Followers or Leaders in Society? A Framework for a Contemporary Assessment. Research & Occasional Paper Series: CSHE.1.2022. Center for Studies in Higher Education In assessing the current and future role of universities in the nation-states in which they are chartered and funded, it is useful to ask, When are universities societal leaders as societal and constructive change agents, and when are they followers, reinforcing the existing political order? As discussed in the book, "Neo-Nationalism and Universities: Populists, Autocrats and the Future of Higher Education," the national political history and contemporary context is the dominant factor for shaping the leadership or follower role of universities — what I call a political determinist interpretation. We often think of contemporary universities, and their students and faculty, as catalysts for societal progress — the Free Speech and Civil Rights movements, Vietnam War protests, the anti-Apartheid movement, Tiananmen Square, and more recently the pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong. Universities can be, and have been, the locus for not only educating enlightened future… [PDF]